Service providers typically provide numerous voice and data services to subscribers using wireline and/or wireless communication networks. Examples of voice services are voice calls, call forwarding, call waiting, etc. Examples of data services are streaming audio, streaming video, Voice over IP (VoIP), online gaming, and IP-TV. Mobile devices, such as cell phones, personal data assistants, smart phones, notebook computers, etc, may access the services provided by the communication networks over an air interface with one or more base stations. Communication between the mobile devices and base stations is governed by various standards and/or protocols, such as the standards and protocols defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP, 3GPP2).
End users of mobile devices are more likely to engage in long duration sessions when accessing data services as opposed to voice services. For example, an end user is more likely to stream video or engage in an online game for an hour or more, than to be on a voice call for an hour or more. If an end user engages is long duration sessions over a billing period (e.g., a month), the end user may receive a bill that was much more than expected.
New regulations have emerged to protect end users from “bill shock” when it comes to data services. The regulation suggests a financial or volume cap set for an end user during a time period. For example, a financial cap for data services may be $50/month, while a volume cap for data services may be 10 Gigabytes/month. With the cap is set, if a percentage of the cap is reached (e.g., 80%), then a warning is played to the end user. If the cap is actually reached during a time period, then data services are terminated to the end user. This regulation helps end users from receiving a very large bill at the end of the month.